OH is looking at a 2007 bmw 118i n/a petrol listed as 74k on the clock. Anything to look out for or avoid, horror stories etc….

My 120d 08 155k mileage has been good.
That is v low mileage so check docs etc.
We had a leaky shock needed replacing and a sensor for the abs went so needed a new shaft.
Much higher mileage though.

These usually come on runflats, this can make the ride harsh… But as its 12 year old suspension, it should feel a little nicer than 10 years ago! If you find the ride harsh, you can ditch the runflats which makes it feel a lot nicer.

On the stero front: Business Audio is complete rubbish (1x Sub, 2x Door Mids, 2x Shelf Mids, rubbish amp). The Professional Headunit is much better. Speaker options, I wouldn’t go for anything less than HiFi, comes with tweeters and an extra sub under the drivers seat. The I-Drive is not worth it (I know, I have it!), its very dated and you can buy an add on screen for any BMW these days for not a lot of money.

I don’t think the economy on the small petrol engines are very good, I swear I read somewhere the 118i has the same economy as the 130i… or it might have been the 116i vs 130i..

Cup Holders, it might not come with any or it might come with one, but you can’t use it unless you flip up the arm rest.. Not exactly deal breaking, but something to look out for.

There are loads of options for these cars: Xenon’s are really good, they make the car look a little better and are like having a sun light the way compared to the candle powered halogen lights.

Make sure the Parking Sensors work and bongs n bings work. Common problem is they stop working as the PDC control unit can get soaked in water due to a rubbish design. Unsure what year they updated this.

The heater matrix is prone to fail as are the suspension bushes, (creaking over speed bumps) mine was done under warranty. Not driven the petrol version but the diesels are good. I had the 123D M Sport with twin turbos and always hovered around the fifty mpg mark. Great car, kinda wish we had kept it. We had a five year service contract via BMW and they were buffoons with it, dreadful.

I don’t think the economy on the small petrol engines are very good, I swear I read somewhere the 118i has the same economy as the 130i… or it might have been the 116i vs 130i..

I went from a 2006 530D Touring to a 2017 118i – fuel consumption is pretty much identical under all conditions.

I found the older iDrive pretty good – I fitted a bluetooth receiver so it would treat my phone like a CD changer but otherwise the nav etc was fine if you kept the maps upto date with a £10 ebay up date disc very couple of years.

The N43 is not the greatest engine BMW ever made. Various sensor, injectors and coil problems are common but hardly unique to it. The ‘big’ one is the plastic cam-chain tensioner guides disintegrating and/or the chain stretching.

I wouldn’t put my money in a 12yo 4-pot 1 series (petrol or diesel). I’d look for something newer with a less desirable badge for a similar amount.

Cheers all. Plenty to think about, listen for creaking on the test drive, would the cam chain sound rattly if the tensioner is failing?

You might hear a bit of a rattle from a cold start. However, I had a stretched chain on another BMW engine, I couldn’t hear or feel anything but when BMW measured the stretch it was miles out of spec and was replaced for free.

It’s a shame the 4-pots are so shite on this era 1 series, as they are probably the best in terms of their overall build quality (particularly the interiors). Sadly, only the 6 pot engines are of equal quality.

I’m guessing its up for about £5k (assuming from a used car dealer). That would get you a car half the age from Ford, Mazda etc. The interior won’t be anywhere near as nice though.

It’s up at £3k, dvla check for mots suggests low mileage is genuine.

Car in question if this works on a phone
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